GOP Lawmaker Files Bill to Ban 'Political', LGBT 'Pride' Flags in Public Schools
One Republican lawmaker in Tennessee is taking a firm stand against political and LGBT indoctrination.
Tennessee State Rep. Gino Bulso has introduced legislation proposing that all local education agencies and public school charters “shall not display any flag other than the United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag on or in a public school.”
The Republican from Brentwood said he felt compelled to introduce the bill following complaints from parents on the Williamson County School Board about the political propagandizing of their children.
“A school should be a place where a child goes to learn, not a place where a child goes to be indoctrinated,” Bulso said in an interview with The Tennessean.
“We’re simply trying to remove political statements that either educators, administrators, or others want to make in a school setting so that the school can focus on educating the child, and not getting involved in these kinds of political issues.”
The Hill likened the effort to a movement that seeks to eliminate the rainbow-hued so-called “pride flag,” which more than 40 U.S. cities have banned.
If passed, the bill could make Tennessee the first state to ban political flags in public schools, The Hill reported.
Some flags will be listed as exceptions to the rule to allow teachers to display national flags if it is part of the school curriculum and not “political” in nature, Bulso told The Tennessean.
“It’s kind of early in the process, I think, to have a firm idea of what the final legislation will look like,” Bulso explained. “Obviously, if you’ve got flags of other countries or other geographic areas that are used for pedagogical purposes, those are perfectly fine.
“When we put together a list of exceptions that would go into the bill, it would include anything that obviously was part of the education process.”
As well as banning the LGBT pride flag, the legislation would also prohibit other symbols such as the Black Lives Matter flag and the Gadsden Flag, both of which are considered politically divisive.
Bulso added that it was important that the central purpose of school should be education rather than indoctrination.
“Obviously there’s a balance there,” he told the outlet.
🇺🇸 Rep. @GinoBulso files a bill to ban public schools across the state from flying any flag other than the United States flag. pic.twitter.com/vewjXqR9Zb
— The Pamphleteer, Nashville ✰ ✰ ✰ (@realpamphleteer) December 19, 2023
“But the purpose of the school is to educate the child,” he continued. “It’s not a place for people to go and make statements that are protected by the First Amendment.”
Schools are far from the only place where the pride flag has caused controversy.
In June this year, members of the all-Muslim Hamtramck City Council in Michigan banned all LGBT flags from publicly owned poles, leading to a furious backlash from its progressive constituents.
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